Discovering the
Ocean Highway in North CarolinaAn All Things NC! Photo Essay

1953 Ocean Highway
Tourism Map (Courtesy of Chris Curley)

Formed as an
opportunity to promote tourism of the various beaches up and down the Atlantic
Coast, the Ocean Highway has longed survived the 'Interstate Era' and in
many states the highways and byways of coastal routes from New York to
Florida still carry the name. This essay will focus on the route
in the Tar Heel State from Elizabeth City to New Bern and down to Shalotte.
It will cover the various towns, people and history that can be found along
the Ocean Highway, otherwise known as US Highway 17.

The twenty-first
century is already seeing major changes to the Ocean Highway. Bypasses
in New Bern and Elizabeth City are open. Plans for bypasses of Wilmington
and Jacksonville are either under construction or being planned.
The purpose of the route has progressively from a slow coastal tourism
highway to a high speed through route along the Atlantic Coast. This
page and the pages that follow will allow you to see both the old and the
new at the same time, something you can't do by car.

Travel the Ocean Highway

Elizabeth
CityA historic inlet town and her three
routes of the Ocean Highway

WashingtonThe first to be named after George
Washington and a great waterfront.

The Ocean Highway
may have been a successor of the old South Atlantic Ocean Highway.
A 1926 Rand McNally Junior Road Map of North Carolina (below right) shows
the South Atlantic Ocean Route.

An interesting
note about the 1926 Routing of the South Atlantic Ocean Highway is that
it seems to have a split route. The modern Ocean Highway and US 17
runs along the New Bern alignment (right).

(1926 RM Image, Courtesy
RV Droz)

Currently, my
research is in the preliminary stages. However, this project cannot
be a success without the enthusiasm of readers like yourself. If
you have stories or photos or links that you would like to be included
in this essay, please e-mail me.